Bravo, cricketers!

At the Sofia Gardens in Cardiff, the babes of international cricket could take justifiable pride in beating the world champions of the limited-over version of the game in all departments of it. The emphatic manner in which victory was achieved, would, we hope, make the detractors of Bangladesh cricket shut up and think afresh.

The win has made us all proud to be Bangladeshi.

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This victory, we hope, is the start of a winning streak and not a flash in the pan. This was no freak win; for, it had to be wrested out of the powerful Australian side who must have played their skills out to ward off a Bangladesh victory. And, those of us who believed in the capability of our cricketers and felt that it was a matter of time before our boys came good, feel vindicated. So must also the coach and officials who had to bear the brunt of adverse criticism at home and abroad. We will not sink so low as to suggest that the critics eat their words for their cynical and often hasty outbursts from time to time, but being men of cricketing repute they know what to do under such circumstances.

The team played as a well-knit unit and the cohesion and grit were patently noticeable. One cannot but make mention of the way Bashar led the team from the front as well as of Ashraful whose approach belied his young age. And, of course, Aftab was his usual composed, yet fiery self. All deserve our kudos.

But, let not this one victory after such a long time against a strong side like Australia go to the head. This should not be a one-off flight to ecstasy to be only submerged under a pile of unprofessional performances. We must come of age going well past interminable 'historic' successes and settle down to a more consistent pattern of cricket.

Those linked to our cricket need to have patience, and so must our countrymen and allow time for our young team to graduate into a competitive side playing out the full ODI overs and fighting till the last day of a test match.

We wish for the day when wins will be more or less a regular feature rather than a sparsely experienced joy.